Everyone wants a piece of Jesus. Major religions want to claim him for their own. And political and social activists try to make him stand for their causes, too. He will have none of it. So how then can we avoid that mistake in our own lives? How can we discern it in others? That’s my topic for this week’s edition of Contentious Questions (Because some questions just are that way). Image Credit(s): Austin Neill, Unsplash.
I’ve been writing on how to bring apologetics into your teaching without scaring people away. (The series got interrupted by a string of unexpected events here. All is well, just a lot busier than I’d planned on.) There’s a fine line between challenging people and scaring them. Of course I use the word “scare” advisedly. I’m talking about what happens when people get pushed beyond their comfort limits — which could happen in all kinds of ways in church. Talk…
Another theme change here. I liked the look of the previous one, but there were four problems: Most important: The sidebar was far too prominent on smaller screen. Subheading sizes were wrong in mobile view. Comment numbering was off: my own comments weren’t numbered. With this fix, all comment number references should be correct again except on the very most recent posts. That’s an unfortunate problem that I can’t correct. Many style/formatting tags failed to work in comments. Thanks for…
We know the truth. We know the truth. We know the truth. We know the truth. And we know the truth. Fighting words? See my recent Stream articles on this, and watch my explanation here. Image Credit(s): Austin Neill, Unsplash.
What will it take to bring apologetics into the local church? I must have heard that question asked hundreds of times over the past ten years. Of course, I run in circles where people are likely to wonder. They know: Christianity is under unprecedented pressure. Most young people raised in solid Christian churches walk away from the faith when they leave home — which means most young people raised in reasonably solid Christian families walk away — and that one…
Edited and republished from a post on November 15, 2013. Jerry Coyne’s recent Slate article on science and faith gives another chance to clarify the contentious meaning of “faith.” In that article he presents three religious and one putative scientific usage of the word, then comments, The three religious claims (Christian, Jewish, and Muslim, respectively) represent faith as defined by philosopher Walter Kaufmann: “intense, usually confident, belief that is not based on evidence sufficient to command assent from every reasonable…
This week’s edition of Contentious Questions (Because some questions just are that way): They say that Christianity is anti-science. I wonder who’s really being anti-science. See also my related article at The Stream. It includes a list of references for those who want to know more, since what I’m diving into here is just a hint of the whole story, which fills entire volumes if told in its entirety. Image Credit(s): Austin Neill, Unsplash.
Mike Licona has asked me to post this in response to my article last week urging him to answer Lydia McGrew’s objections to his work on Why Are There Differences in the Gospels. I’ll add a short, final response of my own. There is a link to Lydia’s response at the end of Mike’s message. This is the one and final time I expect to pass along a message on this topic, but I did think it was fair to allow…
April is “Take Your Pastor To Lunch Month!” for Christian apologists. I don’t mean pros, I mean everyone who enjoys apologetics, who wants it to become more of a ministry in your churches, and who’d like it to grow across Christianity. Why take your pastor to lunch? Two reasons. From the Spiritual Readiness project page: Relationship. The key to building apologetics ministries is to be connected with your church’s overall ministry. That takes relationships with leadership. And as you’ll see when…
